The Secret Treasure Read online

  “It’s here!” Violet was excited. She opened the chest and found all the valuables she had secured.

  Before they could unearth the treasures, there was a loud explosion.

  Kaboom!

  The tree house shook.

  “What was that?” Noah’s voice quivered.

  Violet rushed to the front door, peering across the footbridge that connected their houses.

  “They blew up your house. And I’m pretty sure this one is going to be next.” Violet was devastated. She had put so much into building the house and now it was gone. But she didn’t have time to mourn the loss.

  “I know this is awful, but we can’t get upset. We have to gather all the resources from this chest and place them in our inventory before they blow up this house too.” Violet quickly grabbed diamonds, an anvil, armor, potions, and all the other supplies she had stored in the chest with Noah’s help. When they were done, they suited up in the best diamond armor.

  “We can’t lose this book,” Noah reminded Violet, as he held the enchanted book tightly in his arms.

  “I know. We have to find a place outside of town where we can enchant everything and prepare for battle,” Violet said as they rushed out the door.

  Violet was relieved that the ladder wasn’t damaged. They crawled down the ladder, but once they reached the ground, an army of rainbow griefers met them.

  “We’re outnumbered. There’s nothing we can do!” Noah was ready to surrender.

  “Yes, there is.” Violet splashed a potion of invisibility on them, and the two sprinted as fast as they could out of the town.

  The rainbow griefers tried to run after them, but they didn’t know where to look. Violet and Noah had outwitted them.

  “Violet,” Noah called to his friend, hoping she was still running beside him. There was no reply.

  Noah looked around the dense forest outside of their village. All he could see were green leaves. His entire body was still invisible. How could he see Violet if he couldn’t even see himself?

  “Violet!” he hollered, but again there was no reply. He worried that his shouting would alert the rainbow griefers to his location, and gave up calling out for her.

  As Noah walked along a path, he took the remaining apple out of his inventory and took a bite. Once he settled by a tree, his hand became visible. The potion was losing its effect. When he was completely visible, he searched for Violet, but couldn’t spot her anywhere. Noah took out his shears and cleared a path, hoping he would find Violet in the jungle.

  As he walked toward the snowy Taiga Biome that was located beyond the jungle, he looked up and saw a familiar face.

  “Violet!” He was so happy to be reunited with his friend.

  “Hi Noah,” Violet smiled.

  Then Noah saw two people standing behind Violet, and realized she wasn’t alone.

  4

  TEST FOR SURVIVAL

  Violet introduced Noah to her new friends. “This is Ben and Hannah. They’re from our village and want to join us in the fight against the griefers.”

  Noah wondered when Violet had had time to recruit the new people.

  “Where did you meet them?” he asked Violet quietly, pulling her aside so Ben and Hannah were out of earshot.

  “I found them hiding outside of town. They were both starving and had very little left in their food bars. When I offered them a potato, they told me how the rainbow griefers destroyed their lives.” Violet walked Noah over to Ben and Hannah. “Please tell Noah what you told me.”

  Ben had tears in his eyes when he spoke of his wheat farm. “I had a very large and flourishing farm, but the rainbow griefers forbade me from eating any of my food. They said it was all for them. Every morning they would come by and gather all of my crops. Soon I was starving and had no resources to trade.”

  Hannah was shaking as she told her story. “I was an alchemist. When they found out that I brewed powerful potions, they forced me to live in a bedrock room and brew potions all day. There was no way to escape. They fed me very little and I was always weak. One day I decided I had had enough. I stopped making as many potions as they wanted. Daniel came to visit me. He informed me that I was being punished because I had slowed down my production. He said I wouldn’t get food for the entire week. I saw he had left the door open, so I took my chance and threw a potion of harming on him, then fled out of the bedrock room. Now all the rainbow griefers are searching for me. They want revenge.”

  “Don’t worry,” Noah told Hannah, “they’re searching for us too. We are all targets.”

  “If we band together, maybe all four of us can fight the rainbow griefers,” suggested Violet.

  Ben began to reminisce about the village before the rainbow griefers took over. “Remember how everyone from the town would have big parties and we’d all bring different food?”

  “Yes.” Hannah smiled. “It was so peaceful and everyone worked together to make it a beautiful place. I remember there was one person who could build the most unique buildings. People would come from all around the Overworld just to see the structures.”

  “That was Violet!” Noah blurted out.

  “You were the famous builder?” Hannah looked at Violet, visibly impressed.

  “Yes.” Violet blushed. “But I don’t build very much anymore. The griefers don’t care about buildings, they just care about terrorizing people.”

  Noah looked at the sky. “It’s not long before nightfall. We should make our way to the cold Taiga Biome. The rainbow griefers never travel that far, and they hate the snow because they can’t blend in to the background. We can settle there and come up with a plan.”

  The group agreed with Noah and started to walk to the snow-covered biome. When they arrived, a wolf bolted past them.

  “We need to build a shelter,” said Ben.

  “I can build an igloo,” Violet suggested.

  “Do we have enough time?” asked Ben, looking toward the setting sun.

  “We have a world-famous builder here! She can do anything,” Hannah proclaimed.

  Violet laughed. “I can’t do anything, but I’ll try to build a quick igloo.” Violet gathered the supplies to make the house from snow. “And you guys can help.”

  “I can’t believe I’m helping you build,” said Hannah, feeling a little like a star-struck fan.

  “We all need to gather snow blocks,” instructed Violet.

  The group gave Violet blocks as she built the house as fast as she could. It started to snow just as Violet finished the first side of the house.

  “I’m lighting a torch,” Noah said. “It’s too dark. Hostile mobs are going to spawn.” But before Noah could even get the torch from his inventory, he spotted four vacant-eyed zombies off in the distance. The undead creatures silently crept through the snowy mountains, headed right in their direction.

  “Zombies!” Hannah cried out. “We don’t have any weapons. The rainbow griefers took everything from us. We are defenseless.”

  “What are we going to do?” Ben was worried this would be the end for him.

  Violet tossed diamond armor and swords to her new friends. “Keep these. We are in this together. Once we defeat the rainbow griefers, you’ll have all of your stuff returned to you. Life will go back to normal.”

  Ben and Hannah hoped Violet was right. They thanked her for the swords and armor and then sprinted toward the zombies, ready to defeat the hostile mobs of the night.

  Violet started behind them, but Ben turned back and said, “No, Violet. Keep building the igloo with Noah. We’ll handle this.”

  Noah helped Violet construct the walls of the igloo, then placed a torch on the wall by the front door. From the torch’s light he could see Ben and Hannah battling with all their might. He cheered as they defeated the zombies and returned carrying the zombies’ rotten flesh.

  Another wolf sprinted past, and Ben leaned down, offering it the rotten flesh. The wolf smelled it and then took a bite, immediately tamed.

&nbs
p; “Now we have a pet,” he explained. Hannah wasn’t sure Ben had made the best decision. They had a battle to focus on, and now they had to watch after a dog.

  Violet approached the tamed wolf. “Can I name it?”

  “Of course,” Ben replied as he entered the half-finished igloo, the dog a few steps behind him.

  “I want to call it Griefer,” Violet joked.

  “I think we should call it Hope,” said Hannah.

  The group stood around the dog in silence. They all nodded their heads in agreement.

  In the pitch-black night sky, Hope watched as Violet put the roof on the house and finished the igloo.

  5

  ENCHANTING

  When they were safely in the new igloo, bundled up underneath their red wool blankets, Violet told Hannah and Ben about the enchanted book she had found with Noah.

  “Wow!” exclaimed Hannah. “That’s going to come in very handy.”

  “Yes. In the morning we need to enchant our swords. They’ll become so powerful, we’ll be able to easily fight off rainbow griefers.” Violet was excited.

  As they wished each other goodnight, they all said how glad they were to have found each other, and they also admitted they were nervous about staging an attack on Daniel and his army.

  “It’s not going to be easy,” remarked Hannah.

  “Fighting for peace never is,” said Violet, and the group went to bed.

  When they woke up, they could see snow falling outside the igloo window. Violet rushed out to the white powder that covered the ground, squealing, “I want to play!”

  Noah reminded her, “We have no time for playing. We have to enchant our swords and armor. Where’s the anvil?”

  Violet looked in a chest she had placed beside her bed, opening it to get the anvil. “Noah! It’s gone!”

  “What?” Noah was shocked.

  “I had placed a chest in the corner and left it in there. It’s gone and so are the extra diamonds I had stored.” Violet was in tears. She regretted taking the items from her inventory and placing them in her chest. It was a dangerous thing to do, but she trusted everyone in the igloo.

  Noah looked at the empty beds, “Where’s Ben and Hannah?”

  Violet couldn’t believe they were missing. “They were thieves. They must have left with our stuff.”

  “How could they do that? And after all the stories they told us about the rainbow griefers,” said Noah.

  “This is a good lesson. We can’t trust anyone.” As those words flew from Violet’s mouth, Ben and Hannah walked through the door. They were suited up in their armor.

  “We have the anvil set up,” said Hannah. “Do you have the enchanted book?”

  “Why did you take my anvil without asking me?” Violet questioned them.

  “I’m sorry, we thought we were being helpful. We just set it up outside next to the crafting table.” Hannah led them to the front door. The anvil and table were set up underneath a covered patch of land outside the house.

  “We thought you stole it,” said Noah.

  “Why would we do that?” Hannah was upset.

  “Do you think we’re thieves?” Ben hated when people didn’t trust him.

  “Well, you went through my chest without asking. When we woke up, you were missing and so was our stuff. What were we supposed to think?” Violet shouted in defense.

  Hannah paused. She realized how their disappearance might have looked to Violet and Noah, and apologized.

  Ben looked at the others and said, “I think we have to make a vow to trust each other. If we don’t, this plan isn’t going to work. I promise that I will stand by all of you during this war on the griefers.”

  The rest of the gang agreed, then walked outside into the snowy day and began to enchant their armor and swords with the enchanted book.

  When they finished, Violet looked at her sword. “Although I don’t want to battle a griefer right now, I really want to test this sword out.”

  The snow was getting thicker, hiding the sun, when an arrow seeming to appear out of nowhere hit Hannah. Luckily she wasn’t hurt, because she was wearing armor.

  “Is it a rainbow griefer?” Noah looked out in the distance.

  “They never travel to the cold Taiga Biome,” Violet reminded him. “It must be a hostile mob. They can spawn now, because the sun is being covered by the falling snow.”

  The group couldn’t see anything. They wanted to ignore the stray arrow, but knew they couldn’t for long.

  “I think I see something moving over there.” Noah pointed to a mountain covered with snow.

  “Really?” Violet stood and stared, but didn’t see anything.

  “Stand still,” Noah instructed. “If you just stand still, you can see something move.”

  “I see it!” Hannah shouted out. “It’s a skeleton. It’s so hard to see because it’s camouflaged in the snow.”

  Hope barked as the skeleton moved closer to the group.

  “There are two of them,” Violet said as an arrow flew in her direction.

  Violet was the only one in the group with a bow and arrow; she took it out of her inventory and aimed for the skeleton, but missed. “We’re going to have to attack it with our swords.”

  “You were the one who wanted to try out our new swords,” said Noah as he sprinted toward the bony skeleton with his enchanted diamond sword. With one swift blow, he destroyed the skeleton.

  “Pick up his bow!” Violet shouted to Noah. “We only have one.”

  Hannah struck the other skeleton and destroyed it, retrieving its dropped bow and placing it in her inventory. She looked down at the diamond sword that had destroyed the skeleton. “Wow, these are powerful swords. No wonder Daniel is so upset that you have this enchanted book.”

  “Imagine what the griefers would do if they had this book? They would cause even more damage and destruction,” Noah worried.

  The group felt confident after defeating the skeletons, but they also knew they had a lot of work ahead of them. They had to come up with a strategy to defeat the griefers.

  Then Violet lunged into a pile of snow.

  “I told you we can’t play now.” Noah was upset with his friend. She was usually a lot more serious and focused.

  “I’m not playing,” Violet said as she made snowballs and began to pile them around her.

  “Really? You’re not playing? Because it looks like you’re preparing for an epic snowball fight.”

  “No, come help me,” Violet said as she placed the snowballs in her inventory. “I’m trying to stock up on weapons.”

  “That’s right. Snowballs come in very handy when battling mobs in the Nether,” remarked Hannah as she placed snowballs in her inventory.

  “We aren’t going to the Nether . . . are we?” Noah’s voice quivered. He had never been to the Nether and heard it was a horrible place filled with lava and hostile mobs that shot fireballs at you.

  “You Nether know,” Ben joked.

  “That’s not funny,” Violet said, “but we have to be prepared for everything. Now we need at least one more bow and some arrows so we have enough supplies to have a fair chance when we battle the griefers.”

  An arrow flew through the sky and landed near Hannah.

  “I guess we know where we’ll find the fourth bow,” Hannah said as she charged toward the skeleton.

  6

  BATTLE FOR THE BOOK

  The group had snowballs and bows and arrows, but they didn’t have a plan. Violet wondered how long she and her friends would stay in the cold Taiga Biome before they had to head back to the village.

  “I bet Daniel is going to send griefers to Taiga Biome,” she told the others.

  “Even if he doesn’t, we have to head back. I can’t imagine the damage he is doing. We have to stop him.” Ben was ready for battle.

  Before they went any further with a plan, they spotted colorful men sprinting past the birch trees.

  “Do you think they see us?” Noah whisp
ered to his friends.

  “No, or they would have shot at us.” Violet hid behind a tree. “We have to make our way back to shelter without them spotting us.”

  The group quietly trekked back to the igloo. When they were safely inside, Noah said in a panicked voice, “It’s just a matter of time before they discover this igloo. We’re all doomed!”

  “Noah, please.” Violet paced the length of the living room. “I knew Daniel would send men looking for us. He really wants that book. We have to hide it.”

  “I bet he thinks only you and Noah are hiding out here. If Hannah and I hide, we can stage a sneak attack on the griefers.” Ben was trying to plot a successful strategy.

  They heard a noise and suddenly one of the rainbow griefers was ripping the door off the igloo. “We don’t have any time to make plans. Whatever they do, I will deny having the book in my inventory,” said Violet.

  “I wonder who is in here.” The griefer laughed and walked in to the living room. Noah and Violet stood with their diamond swords.

  “Swords and armor aren’t going to help you. Daniel has too many people after you,” the colorful blue and red griefer jeered.

  A pink and purple griefer appeared at the door. “Just hand over the enchanted book you stole from Daniel, and we will leave you alone. You can live in this cold dreary world forever. Just don’t come back to the village.”

  Violet knew they weren’t telling the truth. She had handed over valuables to the griefers before and they still attacked her. Violet was surprised when she heard Noah speak.

  “We don’t have the enchanted book. Somebody stole it from us,” Noah told the griefers.

  “You’re lying,” the red and blue griefer said as he held a diamond sword against Noah’s throat.

  “No, I’m not. Do you want to check? We kept it in a chest in our bedroom. It’s empty now. We met a few people on the way here and they stole a bunch of stuff from us,” Noah told them calmly, despite having a sword pointed at him.

  “Go check the bedroom,” the blue and red griefer ordered.

  “Why do I have to look in the chest?” complained the pink and purple griefer.